VILLAINS sounds like a "djent" band. Meshuggah and Cloudkicker do it better but the "genre" is pretty damn tedious in general. This band stinks.

Djent really is tedious, but I wouldn't describe Villains as a djent-sounding band. They are maybe even duller since they have less melodies than Cloudkicker or Periphery and focus even more on bouncy rhythms. Kind of like the Waka Flocka of Metal/Hardcore; not the most sophisticated music around but I can't stop nodding my head

You want hardcore from Chicago listen to Weekend Nachos, Noose, and Poison Planet.

As I said, the bands I mentioned barely have anything to do with hardcore, I just thought they might appeal to some people posting in this thread. Weekend Nachos sound really great though, reminded me of Harms Way. You should also check out Drowning from Chicago (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS_2s-kRXgk), they have some really heavy parts (though also some beatdown-type breakdowns).